Air Pollution

How Do We Cause Air Pollution?

We cause air pollution directly through our use of electricity, fuels, and transportation.

We also cause air pollution indirectly, when we buy goods and services that use energy in their production and delivery. Most of this air pollution we cause results from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, natural gas, and gasoline to produce electricity and power our vehicles.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a good indicator of how much fossil fuel is burned and how much of other pollutants are emitted as a result. Using carbon dioxide as an example, the average family in the United States causes air pollution in the following ways:

How Much Air Pollution Do We Cause?

An average family in the United States causes the following amounts of air pollution each year:

Exposure to emissions of lead, mercury, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and ozone-forming nitrogen dioxides are hazardous to public health. Toxic compounds, like mercury and lead, poison organ systems and can lead to brain damage and death. In parts of the country where lakes and waterways have been contaminated with mercury from electric power plants, fish are no longer safe to eat because they, too, are contaminated with heavy metal pollutants. Other pollutants, like ozone and particulate matter, cause respiratory and other health problems, particularly in children and the elderly.

Environmental Effects

Climate change on a global scale has been attributed to increased emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas. A global average temperature rise of only 1C could have serious implications. Possible consequences include melting of polar ice caps; an increase in sea level; and increases in precipitation and severe weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, floods, and droughts. Indirect effects include increases in infectious disease, weather-related deaths, and food and water shortages. All these effects put a stress on ecosystems and agriculture, and threaten our planet as a whole.

Other atmospheric effects of air pollution include urban smog and reduced visibility, associated with ozone-forming nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compound emissions. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides combine with water in the atmosphere to cause acid rain, which is detrimental to forests and other vegetation, soil, lakes, and aquatic life. Acid rain also causes monuments and buildings to deteriorate.

Economic Effects

The effects of air pollution on human health and the environment have economic impacts. According to the Healthy People 2000 report [5], each year in the United States:

The health costs of human exposure to outdoor air pollutants range from $40 to $50 billion.

An estimated 50,000 to 120,000 premature deaths are associated with exposure to air pollutants.

People with asthma experience more than 100 million days of restricted activity, costs for asthma exceed $4 billion, and about 4,000 people die of asthma.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) article, "Why is it Better to Buy Green Electricity?"[1], states that acid rain causes $6 billion a year in damage to crops, forests, lakes, and buildings. The potential economic impact of global warming is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. While green sources of electricity may cost more, they do not incur the external costs of traditional fossil fuel-based generation. The EDF article states that:

Green resources are a good source of jobs and income because they rely on local labor, land, and resources. Rural communities would probably benefit the most from renewable energy development, as wind and biomass energy production is likely to take place in rural areas."

What You Can Do

There are many actions people of all ages can take to reduce their emisisons. To learn more, read the checklist of things you can do in your home and in your school in the Cleaner and Greener Program's "Guide to Air Pollution and the Emissions We Cause." If we all work together, we can make the world a cleaner and greener place to live! Green Marketing and websites provided by Custom Creative